Electrical fatalities

• Most electrocution deaths are accidental –

household and work activities
• Homicidal and suicidal electrocutions are very
rare
• Factors influencing electrical injuries
– Type of current:
• Alternative current (AC) – more dangerous than direct
current (DC), because it causes fatalities at lower
amperage -> cardiac arrhythmias, may prevent a victim
from releasing his/her grasp of a conductor due tetanic
spasm of muscles
– Intensity of the current (ameprage):
• The most important factor in electrocution
• At 40mA an individual will loose consciousness
• 50-80mA – after a few seconds -> death
– Tension of the current (voltage):
• Less important than the amperage
• Low voltage (<50 V) – therapeutic purposes, low
tensions of AC can cause fatalities, tension as low as 25
volts -> death
• Medium voltage (<500 V) -> prolonged contact with the
electrical source -> the victim grips and holds on to the
conductor
– „Joule burn” cases – „Hold on” cases
– Most fatalities at 220 – 250 V
• High voltage (thousands of volts – without direct
contact between the victim and a conductor – arching
through air – high temperatures (up to 5000 C -> sever
burns
– Resistance
• Highest levels – bones, fat and tendons
• Lowest levels – nerves, blood, mucous membranes, and
muscles
– Duration of contact
• The possibility of a lethal event often increases with the time
of contact with a conductor
• E.g. Paradox survival with high voltage electrocution -> muscle
spams -> victim being thrown back away from the conductor
– Route of the current
• The passage of the current through the heart or through the
brain increases the risk of a fatal outcome
• Current generally passes from the contact point to the nearest
earthed point
• Mechanism of death
– Cardiac arrythmias – ventricular fibrillation
– Respiratory arrest – intercostal muscles and
diaphragm -> spasm
– Inhibition of the nervous centres of respiration
and circulation
– Non-electrical trauma due to falls from height
• Autopsy findings
– Electrocution mark at the point of entry and exit
of the electrical current
• Round or oval, shallow crater bordered by a ridge of
skin 1-3 mm high
• Pale, flattened skin on the floor
• Pale and hyperemic skin beyond the mark
• Contact with the long axis of a wire producs a linear
mark or groove
– Histological findings – due to thermal effects
• Abrupt transition from normal to abnormal skin
• Separation of the cells of the lower epidermis –
microvesicles
• Coagulative necrosis -> into the dermis
• Cell nuclei -> pyknosis and elongation
– No marks on the skin may be seen if:
• The contact point was broad – e.g. Electrocution in a
bath

– Metallization – tissue anions combine with the

metal of an electrode -> metallic salts
– Severe burns – high voltage electrocution
– Scattered foci of the myocardial necrosis with
subendocardial hemorrhages and contraction
bands